Excuse Fears
Some people have true fears that make it impossible to function in society. So, it’s important to figure out if it’s real or just an excuse. For instance, kids are notorious for fabricating phobias to avoid their responsibilities. One of the most common is probably didaskaleinophobia. A child will express a fear of school, in the hopes of getting to stay home.
Gnosiophobia is the fear of knowledge. Kids may claim that they can’t learn anything. They might even actually be afraid. But, it is more likely an excuse to be lazy and get bad grades. Maybe they even claim to be ideophobic. They can’t get any new ideas. It might hurt them.
But, if they say they are papyrophobic, it’s definitely time to seek the help of a professional, because a fear of paper is really just plain weird.
Worthy of an Extra Word
Are you afraid of walking? Well, there must be plenty of people that are, because there are three phobias named for this disorder:
- Ambulophobia
- Basophobia
- Stasibasiphobia
I guess you can choose your phobia based upon the word you like the best.
Of course, there is the phobia for words themselves. You may have hippopotomonstrosesquippedaliophobia or verbophobia. One if for people that are afraid of short words; the other is for those that are worried about long words. I bet you can guess which word phobia is which.
Go figure
If you or someone you know has an ongoing fear, to the point that it affects how you approach life, then it has become a phobia. No matter how strange the fear, someone else shares the same concern, whether rational or irrational. Someone, somewhere along the line has given it a name. You may not be able to say or even spell it, but every fear has a name. Some of these names are easy to remember, because the English root word has something to do with the phobia. But, then there are words like this:
- Arachibutyrophobia – the person has a fear of peanut butter, if it gets stuck to the roof of their mouth
- Batophobia – is a fear of being too close to tall buildings
- Cathisophobia – is for those individuals that are afraid to sit down
So, the question is: do you have a phobia? Did you come by this overwhelming fear through an unfortunate circumstance; or, has it always been a part of who you are?